Nurse, Midwife and Child Birth Educator, Peter Jackson

Today’s guest believes that the current birth culture can be changed so that it is perceived and experienced positively. Peter Jackson.

Today’s guest has worked as a registered nurse and midwife for more than 40 years, has helped and educated over 2500 parents experience the birth of their children with confidence and knowledge. He is the founder of ‘Calmbirth’ a childbirth education program that has hundreds of educators mainly in Australia, and also New Zealand and Hong Kong. My guest today is Peter Jackson.

Peter Jackson started his life as a health care professional more than 40 years ago. He worked in several areas but it was only when he was given the chance to work in midwifery that he found his real passion.

It was here that he started to question many things about the medical and midwifery model’s of care and their approach to pregnancy and women. He sensed that there was a very important aspect of childbirth that was not receiving the attention it deserved, namely the mind-body connection or the psychological and emotional aspect of childbirth.

In early 2000 he started to work with mothers and fathers on a more spiritual approach in relation to birthing, where he would look not only at the physical component but also the psychological part and how the mind affects the body. Doctors and health professionals of several hospitals started to notice a change in the mothers Peter talked to that they started to ask what exactly he was doing with them.

It was in 2004 when he started Calmbirth. Calmbirth is a practice that helps parents (both mothers and fathers) learn how to embrace birth, instead of being fearful and think it is going to be a harsh and difficult experience, the couples are able to connect with the entire process, they start to work together towards having the most successful experience possible then this increases the chances for this to happen. With Calmbirth you understand how your mind affects the physiology of your body. You understand the importance of breathing and how this affects the whole experience. This reduces the need for intervention and increases the way couples experience the birth of their children.

I (Ricardo) did the course with my wife, and the most surprising thing about Calmbirth is that I was expecting to take the course with other couples that were having their first baby. Surprisingly the class was also attended by doctors, midwives, obstetricians and parents that have had 2 or 3 kids. They were all there because of good comments and positive experiences other parents had had whilst having their kids.

In this interview, you will learn that hard work and consistency produces great results, that planning and learning specific things before you start any project avoids many mistakes, that you don’t have to do things on your own and that it is OK to seek for help when you are having problems in life.